Foreword

THE content of the present book is composed of four
lectures which I gave in the course of a seminar at the
University of Notre Dame in 1955, [and to which I later
made a number of additions].

These lectures were recorded on tape; my friend
Professor Joseph Evans was good enough to have them
transcribed, and then to put them in readable form, trimming the
text, inserting here and there answers or free developments
which I had indulged in during the discussion, correcting
the English style, and at the same time keeping the open
conversational tone which is suitable hereÄin short, making
a book emerge from an informal talk. It is a privilege for a
philosopher to have his thought and intentions so perfectly
understood. I wish to express my special gratitude to
Professor Evans for the extreme care, thoughtfulness and
devotion with which he has performed the work of editing. I
also wish to tell him how pleased I am to have this book
published in collaboration with him.

When Professor Evans sent me the four lectures for
revision, I realized that, because of the limitations of time,
I had omitted to make in them a certain number of points
which I consider important. Thus my revision mostly
consisted of writing new pages and affording, or so I hope,
further elucidation.

Because of my distrust of Hegel, I was, in my youth,
somewhat prejudiced against the very notion of the
philosophy of history. Furthermore, as far as my own work is
concerned, I have always shunned taking grand and
imposing topics as sign-posts for my little essays. As a result,
when in a remarkable and exceedingly generous article in
the Revue Thomiste,{1} Msgr. Journer entered upon a study of
my philosophy of history, I was quite surprised. At least
he made me aware of the fact that I had made some
incursions into the field, in a more or less scattered manner,
according to the opportunities offered by the discussion of
other problems. Msgr. Journet's article is an indispensable
complement to the present volume. And it was of great
assistance to me in the preparation of the lectures from which
this book has issued. All the material I needed from my
previous essays was collected and set in order there in a
most helpful way. I am deeply indebted to Msgr. Journet,
not only for this article, but also for the inspiration I
received from his great book on the Church, and for his
kindness in agreeing to read this book before publication,
and to advise me about it.

I wish to express my warm thanks to Reverend Father
Bernard I. Mullahy, Vice-Provincial of the Holy Cross
Fathers,{2} without whose friendly prodding I would not
have chosen this topic for my four lectures in 1955.

I regret that the pressure of time did not permit me to
give more extensive developments to the present book, and,
in particular, to make use, in my discussion, of the works
of Herbert Butterfield, Isaiah Berlin, Christopher Dawson,
and P. A. Sorokin, for whom I have special appreciation.

-- JACQUES MARITAIN

Preliminary Note

IN this book I shall make a tentative approach to the
philosophy of history. I shall try to sum up many
considerations and remarks which I have proposed on this
subject over a number of years, and which are scattered
in various books and essays.

2) axiomatic formulas or functional
laws -- I mean those (more universal) formulas or statements
which manifest the stability, in the course of history, of certain
basic relations or fundamental characteristics.

3) typological formulas or vectorial
laws -- I mean those (more particularized) formulas or
statements which deal with the very growth of history and the variety
of its ages, phases, or aspects, and which manifest such or such
typical direction in the historical development.